1. Algeria has been fighting one of the parties (AQIM, as it is now called) for years

correspondingly, the slightly dressed up military dictatorship in Algeria has little interest in French adventurism compared to their English and American patrons. This troika has been trying to pressure the Algerian military to invade Mali since day four of the present rebellion (*), with roughly the same "get bent" reply they appear to be receiving now.

(*)--day's one and two were spent finding Mali on the map, on day three the leaders asked their bankers how much money they were plundering from Mali's gold mines, and thus on day four sprung into action.